Avoiding Trans Fats in Restaurants

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Are unhealthy trans fats lurking in your favorite restaurant meals?

It started in New York City and Chicago. Citing the impact of
trans fats on
heart disease, city officials acted to ban trans fats from the menus of
restaurants in their cities.

Since then, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, New Hampshire, and New
Jersey have also introduced bills to ban trans fats (often used for baking and
frying) in restaurants. Some fast food restaurants, like Wendy's, are now using
trans fat-free oil. Many others -- including hotel chains, cruise ship lines,
Starbucks, and even Disney -- have joined the trans-fat-free bandwagon.

Now that the government requires grocery store food package labels to list
trans fats content, consumers have become more enlightened about where these
unhealthy fats lurk. But restaurants have largely been exempt from revealing
their extensive use of trans fats.

Experts agree that trans fats should be significantly reduced in the
American
diet. And because we eat out or pick up take-out so often, restaurant food
has become the next target for helping to fix our diets.

What are Trans Fats?

Trans fats are man-made fats; only
very small amounts are found naturally in foods like meat, butter and milk.
Most start out as liquid vegetable oils, and through a process called
hydrogenation, hydrogen is added. This turns the liquid oil into a partially
solid, or hydrogenated, product.

Ironically, trans fats were originally used as an alternative to unhealthy
saturated fats. They also improved the shelf stability and texture of foods.
Frying oil could be used longer, foods had a longer shelf life, bakery goods
maintained freshness longer. Trans fats made pie crusts flakier, cookies
crunchier, and frosting creamier.

They quickly became a staple in the American diet in the 1970s. Partially
hydrogenated vegetable fats were used extensively in fried and baked foods,
such as French fries, cakes, cookies, crackers, and chips.

But the evidence against trans fats has accumulated over the years. It is
now known that the hydrogenation process makes the artificial fat capable of
clogging arteries, much like saturated fat. Trans fats can raise levels of
"bad" (LDL)
cholesterol, much like saturated fats. They also lower levels of
"good" (HDL) cholesterol.

Beyond their artery-clogging properties, trans fats are also high in
calories -- like all fats - and, when eaten in excess, can contribute to
overweight. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2005 Dietary Guidelines warn
consumers to "limit intake of fats and oils high in saturated and/or trans
fatty acids and choose products low in such fats and oils."